Having crossed swords with the justice system a few too many times, a 36-year-old man drew an eight-year sentence after admitting to robbing a convenience store while wielding a sword.

David Charles Dumais received the sentence at Regina Court of Queen’s Bench last week, having pleaded guilty to armed robbery, having his face masked and evading police.

The eight-year term — slashed to 5½ years after remand credit — was the product of a joint recommendation from Crown and defence counsel, taking into consideration Dumais’ lengthy criminal history for offences involving robberies, weapons and violence, among other crimes.

City police were alerted someone had come in and held up the store, making off with cigarettes and cash worth a combined $460 before leaving in a vehicle.

Police were given a suspect description of a man who had donned gloves and a black cloth over his face while toting a two-foot-long bladed weapon and a gym bag.

Police located a suspect vehicle and attempted to stop it, but the driver evaded them. Officers quickly found both the vehicle — by then abandoned — and Dumais, who was walking in the area.

Police noted Dumais matched the suspect description and arrested him, well within an hour of the call coming in. A canine unit had been brought in and located, between the vehicle and Dumais, a gym bag.

Officers also seized a balaclava and a sword, Kaip said, adding DNA from both was matched to Dumais.

Kaip pointed out the robbery was “quite frightening to the clerks,” and said a serious sentence was needed to denounce and deter this type of crime and to protect the public — particularly those whose work leaves them vulnerable.

Defence lawyer Alex Deacon said his client has spent much of his life in custody, attributing it to his struggles as a First Nations person and his continuing battle with addictions.

“It is the reason he’s here,” Deacon said of those addictions. “It’s what he has to cope with in order to stop committing these sorts of offences.”

Deacon told the court his client has tried in the past to forge a better life for himself, both through employment and addictions treatment, but ended up slipping.

Dumais himself took a moment to address the court, admitting he needs to work harder at dealing with his problems.

“If I dealt with my addictions, I probably wouldn’t have committed my offence that night,” he said.

In accepting the joint sentencing recommendation, Justice Ellen Gunn noted Dumais is an “experienced criminal” with what amounts to a continuous record containing 50 previous convictions.

She told Dumais he needs to take the appropriate steps to deal with his issues or “you will find yourself spending the rest of your life in custody.”